Lithium-halide batteries in which a lithium anode and a charge transfer polymer complexed with a halogen to form a cathode or depolarizer are generally well known. Illustrative of these batteries are U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,148,975; 4,276,362 and 4,242,428. Batteries of this type have found wide application in cardiac pacemakers and for powering other electronic circuits such as wrist watches and computer memory and clock backup. Typical charge transfer complex materials include poly-2-vinylpyridine and poly-2-vinylquinoline (U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,874).
Also, iodine doped metal complexes have been disclosed, U.S. Pat. No.4,584,251, which are suitable as cathode materials for lithium/iodine or silver/iodide cells. These metal complexes comprise a divalent metal of nickel, iron, copper, cobalt, zinc, palladium or platinum and dibenzotetraazaannulene ("Mdbtaa").
It is an object of the present invention to provide improved battery performance over these prior art batteries. It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved battery having higher operating voltages during discharge and greater rate capability at lower temperatures than prior art P2VP/I.sub.2 and Mdbtaa batteries.